Summed UpJust off the coast of southern Georgia and connected via causeways, the islands of St. Simons, Jekyll, and Sea Island (and privately owned Little St. Simons) make up what's known as the Golden Isles. Tidal marshlands, preserved wildlands, and long stretches of beach join exclusive resorts, golf courses, and historic communities on these barrier isles, and live oak trees dripping with Spanish moss cover the interior landscape.

History runs deep on the Isles. Muskogian and Timucuan Indians hunted and fished the abundant wildlife of the area. Spanish explorers landed here in 1510 and held claim on the area until the Battle of Bloody Marsh on St. Simons in 1772, which secured British occupation. And in 1858, 50 years after importing slaves was outlawed, the last of the slave ships illegally landed on Jekyll Island.

Rich politicians and tycoons--including the Rockefellers--have frequented the islands in the past couple of centuries. The Federal Reserve was planned out on Jekyll Island in 1910, and the G8 Summit took place on Sea Island in 2004.

Running on any of the three islands' beaches gives locals and visitors a breezy, coastal respite from summer's heat and year-round humidity. Due to the many rivers (including the Altahama, Ogeechee, and Black Banks) meeting the Atlantic--and the fact that the Georgia coastline is the westernmost shoreline on the east coast and therefore has a continental shelf eighty miles wide--the coastal water is muddled in color.

With a tidal shift between six and 10 feet between low and high tides, low tide creates wide, hard-packed surfaces for miles of scenic running, paralleled by tall reeds, bluffs, and impressive beachfront homes.

Park Here Jekyll Island has the largest runnable coastline of all three islands, with plenty of options for parking. Know that it costs $6 for day use on the island.

St. Simons Island's runnable beach lies between Gould's Inlet and the St. Simons Island Light lighthouse.

Unless you're a guest of the posh Sea Island property or a friend of someone with a cottage on the island, your only bet for running on the beach there is to take a boat over. (Don't wade across the channel between St. Simons and Sea Island, even at low tide. The current is strong and dangerous.)

Local KnowledgeCheck local tide charts online, and try to run when the tide is low. High and low tides sway between six and 10 feet in difference, and low tide will give you the most amount of hard-packed sand for your running surface.

Even at high tide, most beaches are wide enough to allow space for a run, but you may be forced onto soft, deep sand in parts. And you might actually run out of beach in places, as the rising water renders it impassable.

The area is popular among tennis players, and golfers like champion Davis Love III, who hosts the PGA's McGladry Classic on St. Simons Island.

Share the TrailKnown as "nature's nursery," the area's vast marshland draws birds like osprey and great blue heron, and porpoises can often be spotted off shore. The area is also home for loggerhead sea turtles, fiddler crabs, and an abundance of oysters clinging to jetties at low tide. Cannonball jellyfish often wash up on the sand, as do picture-perfect knobbed whelk shells.

You'll share parts of the beaches with sunbathers, vacationers, beachcombers, boaters, and other walkers and runners.

Why We Love It? "I love running on the beach in the morning and watching the sunrise, especially on Sea Island. St. Simons has a nice stretch at low tide, and Jekyll Island has the longest coastline for a run and lots of turtles. The beach provides great conditioning, plus it's just really beautiful." Rebecca Kubovcsak, St. Simons, Georgia